You work hard on your blog, writing content regularly and engaging with your growing readership. You have your editorial calendar, social media accounts, a marketing plan, and you’re getting better at taking photos.
The best way to take your blog to the next level is to hire a blog designer in order to make sure your blog is intuitive, clean, appealing to potential readers, and easy to read. But where do you start in looking for a blog designer?
There are tons of factors to take into consideration if you’re going to invest in your blog’s brand identity and design. In this post, I’ll show you how to search for a designer, and what to look for.
First, Figure Out What You Want
The most important thing, which can also be the hardest thing, is deciding what you want to change about your blog.
Do you need a logo? Just a blog header? A complete redesign?
Do you want to stay on your current blog platform, or do you want help migrating your blog to a different one?
What features do you want added or removed from your blog, such as commenting, branded social media graphics, or responsive design?
Start by making a wish list of all of the changes you want for your blog, whether it has to do with design, brand, or functionality.
By doing this, you’re setting goals for yourself, and it will also help you later in the process when you’re choosing a blog designer. (For the sake of this post, a “designer” can encompass anyone from a graphic designer to a web designer to a web developer. A lot of talented blog designers today have skills in all three of those areas.)
Once you have your wish list items compiled, start ordering them in terms of importance to you and your goals. It can help to break these items out into tiers in order to make the price negotiation easier down the road.
- Must-haves. Things you can’t do without.
- Important. Items that you would stretch your budget to accommodate, if the designer can make them work.
- Longshots. Items that would be nice to work into your project scope, but if they don’t happen, you can live without them (for now).
Look for a Designer
Chances are that if you’re itching to hire a blog designer, you may know of some well-designed blogs off the top of your head.
Visit these blogs and see who the blogger hired by looking in the footer or the about page. If you can’t find the information there, here’s your chance to network: send the blogger an email. What blogger wouldn’t want to receive an email that says:
“Hey! I love your blog and your design is beautiful. I’m looking to have my blog redesigned. May I ask who designed your site?”
You can also search around on the web and browse blogs, noting designers for the blogs you like.
If you’re really stuck, visit sites like Dribbble and Behance and search for blog designers flagged as “for hire” for the platform you’re on.
For example, you can search directly for skills on Dribbble: here’s a list of Blogger designers and WordPress designers.
Evaluating Designers
When at this step of the process, it’s a good idea to have at least a couple of designers in mind. You never know who is going to be available for your timeframe, or who is going to charge what amount, etc.
Onboarding: Questionnaires and Processes
Designers have varying methods of collecting information from prospective clients, whether it’s through a form, via email, by asking you to fill out a questionnaire, etc. Even though it might seem like a pain, the best and most professional designers are going to have a more rigorous process to get to know you and your design goals.
This just means they’re as serious as you are about the success of your blog redesign.
Another important thing to look for is an outlined process on their site or in their email communication. Many experienced designers want their workflow to be as seamless as possible, and they want to make sure you know what to expect during every step of your journey together.
Portfolios and Testimonials
There are ways of judging a designer’s work in a methodical way: reading testimonials, seeing how you feel during the initial email phase, and viewing portfolios and live sites the designer worked on. I want to stress how important it is to see live sites, because a lot of times a designer may be good in Photoshop, but not necessarily in code execution.
A Note on Cost
As much as I’d like to be able to give you an estimated budget on how much your blog redesign will cost you, I’m afraid it’s impossible. Being a designer and staying on top of freelance blogs, I can say that talented, professional designers aren’t going to be cheap.
Consider this: designers are looking to work on your site because it’s their job. That’s how they make money. They’re either in a position where blog design is 100% of their income, or it’s extra income but maybe they’re hoping for it to be their full-time gig soon.
If a designer comes along and their price seems too good to be true, it’s probably too good to be true. Expect nightmarish communication, a design that lacks attention to detail, or a site that will break soon.
The other wrench to throw into this? You. Your cost is going to vary greatly due to what’s on your wish list, what blogging platform you’re on, and your timeframe. That’s why it’s important to outline your goals and wish list first.
Ultimately, finding the right designer for your needs is a little like dating. It’s a big and important investment that’s probably been on your mind for a while. You’re going to have to test the waters, see what feels right, and choose.
I’m Jenn Coyle, a Philadelphia-based illustrator, designer, creative lifestyle blogger, and hand lettering artist. I live for funky-cute illustration styles and have a passion for typography. Chat with me on Instagram and Twitter.
